Bahá’í athletes, historical edition
Written by mcgee on October 17th, 2005Here’s a story about Wake Forest University athletes who were the first to black players to play in Clemson’s “Death Valley” (the nickname for its stadium), in 1964. They recently returned to Clemson to support a program “designed to guide black males into teaching positions at South Carolina elementary schools.” One of them, William Smith, is a Bahá’í.
The story only mentions Smith briefly, but it does talk about him not being able to play on one occasion because of his relationship with other Bahá’ís of different races:
“We knew we were going into hostile territory,” he said. “But we were fortified with our relationships with one another.”
A native of nearby Greenville, Smith could not wait to return home to play at Death Valley. But as a member of Baha’i Faith, Smith says he was seen embracing fellow members of the religion, black and white, before the game. That incensed his coaches, already fearful of racial tension, who made him stop and didn’t let him play in the game.
For those of us who came into the Baha'i Faith through the ever popular 
18
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cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool.